Lori Healey Rising Leader Award
CAC CEO & President Eleanor Esser Gorski with inaugural award recipient Maya Bird-Murphy, Founder of Mobile Makers, at the 2025 Designing Futures Gala.
CAC CEO & President Eleanor Esser Gorski with inaugural award recipient Maya Bird-Murphy, Founder of Mobile Makers, at the 2025 Designing Futures Gala.
Each year at the Designing Futures Gala, the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) recognizes and uplifts a rising leader in community development, planning, design, government or the built environment who embodies the spirit of determination, innovation, collaboration and fearless leadership of the award’s namesake. Award winners receive a cash prize, plus one year of mentoring support from CAC.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2026 Award
You may nominate yourself or someone else for this award.
Nomination Guidelines:
- Nominees must work in the Chicago area.
- There is no application fee.
- Nominees must be 45 or younger as of January 1, 2026.
- Nomination deadline is May 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM CT.
- Questions? Please contact civics@architecture.org
Note: Applicants will need an active Gmail account to access the nomination form. If you do not use gmail, please email civics@architecture.org and we can supply you a hard copy of the application.
Celebrating the Legacy of Lori Healey
2026 award jurors
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2025 Award Recipient
Maya Bird-Murphy is a Chicago-based architectural designer, educator and the founder of Mobile Makers, an award-winning nonprofit organization bringing design and skill-building workshops to underrepresented communities.
Bird-Murphy believes the design field must expand to include more people and perspectives through teaching and community engagement. She is a 2024 United States Artists Fellow and a 2023 Harvard GSD Wheelwright Prize Finalist.
Maya hopes to make her mark by helping the world become a more equitable place to live.
Founding Award Fund Donors
- Lori and Raj Gupta Family Foundation
- Walter Eckenhoff
- Nicol Chervenak
- Robbin Cohen
- Carroll Conway
- Dirk Denison
- Helen Hopton
- Jeffrey Jahns
- Meredith O'Connor
- Marilynn Rubio
- John Syvertsen
- Grant Uhlir
- Megan Wakefield
